Six initiatives are pursued by the program in pulmonary aging at the GRC-BLSA. These initiatives: a) describe the normal longitudinal decline in pulmonary function; b) relate accelerated decline in pulmonary function to clinical indices of Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) and thallium perfusion scans; c) evaluate the contribution of bronchial reactivity and d) micronutrient levels to rates of decline of ventilatory function; e) examine the contribution of oxygen delivery to the mechanism associating impaired ventilation with IHD and diminished function. A sixth project conducts cross-population pulmonary function comparisons of the BLSA with the Senior Athlete and Teaching-Nursing Home-populations.